JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank pause plans for $2B Argentina bond sale, WSJ saysDeutsche Bank (DB) and JP Morgan (JPM) have suspended plans to sell $2B of Argentinian bonds after a U.S. district judge ordered an emergency hearing on the potential sale, reports the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. The sources said the banks believed they had found a way to sell the bonds without being blocked by a prior U.S. court ruling.Reference Link

EU official: Euro banks shouldn't also go through Fed's stress test, WSJ saysJonathan Hill, the European Unionís new financial markets chief, told The Wall Street Journal that he does not see a need for the U.S. to give stress tests to European banks that have already received health checks in Europe. Hill says banks across Europe are "properly and sensibly capitalized." The WSJ reported last week that the U.S. units of two European banks, Deutsche Bank (DB) and Banco Santander (SAN), are set to fail the Federal Reserve's stress tests, though they passed ECB stress tests last year. Reference Link

Banks probed for possible rigging of precious metals markets, WSJ reportsOfficials in the U.S. are investigating at least 10 major banks for potential rigging of precious-metals markets, sources tell The Wall Street Journal. The DOJ's antitrust unit are investigating the price-setting process for gold, silver, palladium and platinum in London, while the CFTC has begun a civil investigation, with both agencies making requests for information, including a subpoena to HSBC (HSBC) from the CFTC. According to a source, Credit Suisse (CS), JP Morgan (JPM), UBS (UBS), Societe Generale (SCGLY), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Barclays (BCS), Goldman Sachs (GS) and Deutsche Bank (DB) are also under investigation. Reference Link

S&P reportedly says Greece contagion not a major risk, Reuters reportsThe risk of contagion spreading from Greece to other European countries is not that large, a German newspaper quoted S&P's chief sovereign ratings officer as saying, according to Reuters. The euro zone would be able to handle an exit of the bloc by Greece, the ratings officer was quoted as saying, Reuters reported. Publicly traded European banks include Banco Santander (SAN), Barclays (BCS), Credit Suisse (CS), Deutsche Bank (DB), HSBC (HSBC), ING Groep (ING), Lloyds Banking (LYG), RBS (RBS) and UBS (UBS). Reference Link